Method and apparatus for applying a protecting film to a semiconductor wafer

ABSTRACT

In an apparatus and method of applying a protecting film to a semiconductor wafer, a semiconductor wafer is placed on top of a table, a protecting film is pressed onto the wafer by a press roller biased toward the table, the table is moved to apply the protecting film to the wafer, a tension roller arranged upstream from the press roller applies a tensile force to the protecting film in a direction opposite the feeding direction of the film, the tensile force of the tension roller is first set at a relatively high value at the beginning of the application of the protecting film to place the protecting film in a stretched state and then at a relatively small value during the application of the protecting film to prevent the portion of the protecting film which has not yet been applied from coming into contact with the wafer, and then, after the protecting film has been applied to the wafer, a cutting blade is used to cut the protecting film to match the shape of the semiconductor wafer by first moving the cutting blade in the Y direction to cut from an angular portion C 1  of the orientation flat portion to an angular portion C 2 , then rotating the table while moving the cutter and the table to align the cutting direction of the cutting blade with the tangential direction of the circumferential portion of the semiconductor wafer, and then rotating the table to cut the protecting film along the circumferential portion of the semiconductor wafer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for applying aprotecting film to a semiconductor wafer, in which after a protectingfilm has been applied to the surface of a semiconductor wafer, theprotecting film is cut to match the shape of the wafer.

2. Description of the Prior Art

When a semiconductor is manufactured, a grinding process (known asbackgrinding) is carried out on the underside surface of thesemiconductor wafer (hereafter referred to simply as "wafer") to thin itdown in order to carry out miniaturization of the semiconductor chip,and in this process the upper surface (i.e., the surface formed with thecircuit) is protected by the application of a protecting film made froma flexible film comprised of a base material such as an adhesive film orthe like.

As for known methods of applying this protecting film, in one method theprotecting film is applied after being precut to the same shape as thewafer, and in another method the protecting film is first applied to thewafer and then cut to match the shape of the wafer.

In this connection, in the method of the present invention describedbelow, a tensile force (back tension) is applied along the feedingdirection of the protecting film and along the opposite directionthereof in order to keep the protecting film in a stretched state so asto prevent wrinkles from forming, and in this state the protecting filmis applied to the wafer.

However, in the above described prior art method, it is not possible toadjust the back tension. Consequently, when the back tension is toohigh, a shrinkage force will act on the applied film, and this createssuch risks as warpage or rupturing.

Further, if the back tension is too low, wrinkles may form in theprotecting film and air bubbles may enter between the protecting filmand the wafer, thus creating the risk that such wafer cannot be used forthe grinding process.

On the other hand, with regards to methods of applying the protectingfilm to the wafer and then cutting the protecting film to match theshape of the wafer, the prior art teaches a method in which such cuttingis carried out by moving a cutter along the circumference of the waferand another method in which the cutter is fixed and cutting is carriedout by rotating the wafer.

For positioning of the semiconductor wafer, a straight line portionreferred to as an orientation flat portion is formed, and in the priorart method of cutting the wafer protecting tape, the intersection of theorientation flat portion and the circumferential portion of the waferforms an angular portion, and at this angular portion a remnant (burr)of the cut protecting tape is created.

When a cut remnant exists at this angular portion, such cut remnant canbe pulled into the grinding apparatus during the backgrinding process,and if this occurs the entire semiconductor wafer can be destroyed.Consequently, up to now there has been a strong desire for a protectingfilm applying apparatus that does not leave behind such a cut remnant.Further, in the case where the bonding of the protecting film to thewafer is insufficient, such portion can also be pulled into the grindingapparatus and create the same problem described above, and this has leadto even more desire for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first object of the present invention is to provide a method andapparatus for applying a protecting film to a semiconductor wafer whichprevents the wafer from being warped or damaged and which preventswrinkles from forming in the protecting film.

In order to achieve this first object, in the present invention anadjustable tensile force is applied to the protecting film along adirection opposite the feeding direction of the protecting film when theprotecting film is applied to the surface of the semiconductor wafer.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a method andapparatus for applying a protecting film to a semiconductor wafer whichmakes it possible to accurately cut away the protecting film to matchthe shape of the wafer.

In order to achieve this second object, in the present invention asemiconductor wafer having an orientation flat portion and acircumferential portion is placed on a table and then a protecting filmis applied to the semiconductor wafer. After this is done, theprotecting film is cut to match the shape of the semiconductor wafer.This is carried out by moving a cutter or the table to cut theprotecting film along the orientation flat portion, rotating the tablewhile the cutter or table is being moved, arranging the cuttingdirection of the cutter at or below a prescribed angle with respect tothe tangential direction of the circumferential portion of thesemiconductor wafer, and then rotating the table to cut the protectingfilm along the circumferential portion of the semiconductor wafer.

Further, in the present invention, a guide roller may be placed in frontand/or behind the advancing direction of the cutter to press theprotecting film against the semiconductor wafer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of an apparatus for applying aprotecting film to a semiconductor wafer according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus for applying a protecting film toa semiconductor wafer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparatus for applying a protecting film toa semiconductor wafer according to the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are respectively enlarged front and side views of thecutter portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the control system of the apparatusfor applying a protecting film to a semiconductor wafer according to thepresent invention.

FIGS. 6A-6E are explanatory drawings showing the application operationof the apparatus for applying a protecting film to a semiconductor waferaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of FIG. 6B.

FIGS. 8A-8D are explanatory drawings showing the cutting operation forthe periphery of the wafer according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is another explanatory drawing showing an example cuttingoperation for the periphery of the wafer according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A detailed description of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the appended drawings.

A front view, a plan view and a side view of one embodiment of thepresent invention are respectively shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3.As shown in FIG. 1, an apparatus for applying a protecting film to asemiconductor wafer 1 according to the present invention comprises aprotecting film supplying portion 100 for supplying protecting film, awafer conveyor portion 200 for conveying a wafer, and a film cuttingportion 300 for cutting the protecting film. Each of these portions willbe described in order below.

In the film supplying portion 100, a protecting film 109, comprised of apressure sensitive adhesive film made by providing a base material suchas flexible film with a pressure sensitive adhesive, is wound togetherwith a release liner 111 around a feeding reel 101 and extends to apress roller 107 via a guide roller 103 and a tension roller 105. Therotation shaft of the feeding reel 101 is provided with a spring 102(FIG. 2) which pushes against a frictional plate 102a and a plate 102bfixed to the top of the rotation shaft in order to exert a frictionalforce on the rotation shaft. The release liner 111 is separated from theprotecting film 109 by a pinch roller 113 and is then wound up by awind-up reel 121 via a drive roller 115, pinch roller 117 and guideroller 119. The drive roller 115 and the wind-up reel 121 are driven bya motor 123. The tension roller 105 rotates in a direction opposite thefeeding direction of the film by means of a torque motor 125 in order toapply a tensile force (back tension) to the protecting film 109. Theamount of such back tension can be adjusted as described below.

As shown in FIG. 3, the press roller 107 is held by a holder 127 whichis freely guided in the vertical direction by a bush 129 and verticallymoved by a cylinder 131. In the vicinity of the press roller 107, achuck 135 comprised of two L-shaped plates is arranged at both ends ofthe press roller 107. These two L-shaped plates can be opened and closedso as to hold the protecting film 109 in the space therebetween. In thisregard, the L-shaped plates are opened and closed by a cylinder 137. Thecylinder 137 is fixed to a cylinder 139 which moves the chuck 135 in thevertical direction. The cylinder 139 is fitted to a cylinder 141(FIG. 1) which moves the chuck 135 in the cross direction of theprotecting film 109 (the left and right direction in FIG. 3). Thecylinder 141 is fixed to the holder 127 of the press roller 107, wherebythe chuck 135 is raised and lowered as the press roller 107 is raisedand lowered.

In the wafer conveyor portion 200, a rotation table 201 for holding awafer W is fitted onto the top of a table support 203 so as to be freelyrotatable thereon. The table 201 is rotated by a motor. The tablesupport 203 is mounted on a rail 205 so as to be freely movable thereon,and a belt 207 is stretched between pulleys 209, 210 so as to beparallel to the rail 205, with the belt 207 being connected to the tablesupport 203 by a connecting plate 211. The pulley 210 is driven by amotor 213, and in this way the rotation table 201 can be made to move ina reciprocating manner along the rail 205 by operating the motor 213.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of grooves 201a having the same shape asthe wafer profile and sizes that correspond to various sized wafers areformed in the upper surface of the table 201. Further, a plurality ofsmall holes (not shown in the drawings) are formed in the rotation table201, and these small holes are connected to a vacuum device (not shownin the drawings) via a vacuum tube 215 (FIG. 1), whereby suction makesit possible to securely hold a wafer W placed on the table 201.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, in the film cutting portion 300, anultrasonic cutter 301 is arranged at an incline to the side of the waferW. In this way, by carrying out a cutting operation with a cutting blade301a inclined to the side of the wafer W, the protecting film 109 willnot protrude beyond the periphery of the wafer W. The ultrasonic cutter301 has a tip portion equipped with the ultrasonically vibrating blade301a and is held in a cutter holder 303. The blade 301a is situatedbetween guide rollers 305 mounted to support plates 307 at positions infront and behind the blade 301a along the advancing direction of thecutter (the left and right sides of the blade 301a in FIG. 4B). Thesupport plates 307 are fixed to the cutter holder 303 via a slider 309by means of a fixture 308 so as to be freely moveable in the verticaldirection, and tension springs 311 are suspended between pins 301bprovided on the ultrasonic cutter 301 and pins 307a provided on thesupport plates 307. The force of these springs 311 pushes the guiderollers 305 vertically against the upper surface of the rotation table201.

The cutter holder 303 is connected to a piston 313a of the cylinder 313,and the cylinder 313 is fixed to an inclined plate 315. Further, a slidetable 316 is fixed to the inclined plate 315, and the cutter holder 303is fixed to the slide table 316 via a mounting plate 314. The ultrasoniccutter 301 is moved up and down at an incline along the inclined plate315 by the cylinder 313. The cutter holder 303 is mounted to themounting plate 314 in a manner that enables it to be freely replaceable,so that by removing the cutter holder 303 from the mounting plate 314,it is possible to mount an ordinary cutter in place of the ultrasoniccutter.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a plate 318 is fixed to a moving plate 317 via aslide table 319, a plate 320 is fixed to the plate 318, and the inclinedplate 315 is fastened at two points to the plate 320 by means of bolts321, 323, in which it is possible to adjust the inclination angle of theinclined plate 315 by changing the fastening position of the bolt 323.The plate 318 is pulled toward the center of the wafer W (toward theleft in FIG. 4A) by a spring 325 and is restricted by a setscrew 326. Byadjusting the setscrew 326, it is possible to bias the cutting blade301a toward the side of the wafer W to cut the film. Further, when anunusual load is placed on the cutter, the plate 318 is pulled away in adirection toward the outer periphery of the wafer W (toward the right inFIG. 4A). In this way, it is possible to prevent excessive loads on thewafer W or the cutter.

As shown in FIG. 1, a holder 329 for holding the press roller 327 isfixed to the moving plate 317, and the holder 329 is moved up and downby means of a cylinder 331. The moving plate 317 is fixed via plates330, 332 to a guide 333 so as to be movable in the Y direction by meansof a motor 335. In other words, the cutter 301 and the press roller 327are fixed to the moving plate 317 and undergo motion in the Y directionby means of the motor 335.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the control system of the apparatusdescribed above. In this regard, a control device 400 which serves as asequencer and the like is comprised of such elements as a CPU andmemory. In this control device 400, data such as wafer size and thedegree of motion for each motor is input in advance by means of a datainput portion 401. Also provided are a vacuum switch 403 for applyingsuction to a wafer and a start switch 405 which outputs a signalinstructing the apparatus to begin operations. Further, cylinderswitches 407, 409, 411, and 413 are provided to output a top dead pointand a bottom dead point for each cylinder. A back tension adjuster 415sets the torque for the torque motor 125, home position sensors 417, 419detect the home position of the table 201 and the cutter 301, and amotor 421 rotates the rotation table 201. As is further shown in FIG. 5,the same reference numbers are used for those parts that are the same asthe parts described previously above.

Next, a description of the operation of the above-described apparatuswill be given.

First, prior to operating the apparatus, essential data (wafer size,degree of motion for each motor, etc.) is input by means of the datainput portion 401, and the back tension value is input by means of theback tension adjuster 415.

Then, a prepared wafer W is set on the table 201. This may be donemanually or by means of a manipulator and an automatic supply device. Inparticular, the wafer W is placed inside one of the grooves 201a havinga size corresponding to that of the wafer W. After that, the vacuumswitch 403 is operated to apply suction to the wafer W, and then thestart switch 405 is operated to move the table 201 only by the amountinput in advance, after which the table 201 is held motionless, as shownin FIGS. 6A, 6B. At this time, the chuck 135 and the press roller 107are in a raised position, with the chuck 135 held on both sides of theprotecting film 109.

Next, the press roller 107 and chuck 135 begin to descend (FIG. 6B), andwhile the chuck 135 is being lowered it also moves in the directionshown by the arrows in FIG. 7 to spread the protecting film 109 in thecross direction. The back tension at this time is set at a degree highenough to stretch the protecting film 109 straight (see FIG. 6B). Afterthat the press roller 107 reaches a wafer outer periphery position andthe protecting film 109 is pressed against the table 201. At this time,the chuck 135 is opened, the torque of the torque motor 125 is reduced,and the back tension across the protecting film 109 is set as low aspossible to the extent that the portion 109a of the protecting film 109which has not yet been applied does not come into contact with thesurface of the wafer W (see FIG. 6C). This value is set in advance bythe back tension adjuster 415 taking into consideration such factors asthe weight of the protecting film 109 which extends from the tensionroller 105 to the press roller 107 and the speed of movement of thetable 201. Of course, the set value may be changed by the back tensionadjuster 415. In the state described above, while the press roller 107presses the protecting film 109 against the wafer W, the table 201 ismoved (FIG. 6D) by only a prescribed amount in the feeding direction ofthe film (to the left in FIG. 6).

In accordance with the above, because no tensile force is placed on theprotecting film 109 when it is applied to the wafer W, no shrinkageforce will act on the protecting film 109, and this prevents anyassociated warpage or damage to the wafer W.

Further, because the edge portions of the protecting film 109 are pulledin the cross direction thereof by the chuck 135, a tensile force isapplied over the cross direction of the protecting film 109, and thismakes it possible to prevent the occurrence of wrinkles when the pressroller 107 makes contact. Then, by releasing the lengthwise andwidthwise tensile force when the protecting film 109 is being applied,it is possible to prevent a shrinkage force from arising.

After that, the chuck 135 is closed and the edge portions of theprotecting film 109 are grasped (FIG. 6E), the cutter 301 is moved alongthe Y axis (the direction from top to down in FIG. 2), and theprotecting film 109 is cut. At this time, the cylinder 331 issimultaneously driven to also lower the side press roller 327 along theY direction to move together with the cutter 301, whereby the protectingfilm 109 is pressed against the wafer W by the side press roller 327.Namely, the protecting film 109 undergoes double compression by thepress rollers 107, 327 to be firmly applied to the wafer W. Then aftercutting has been carried out, the press roller 107 and the chuck 135 areraised and remain on standby at the raised position until the next wafercomes. Further, the side press roller 327 is also raised.

Next, a description of the wafer peripheral portion cutting operationwill be given with reference to FIG. 8. At the completion of cutting theprotecting film 109 in the above-described process, the cutting blade301a is at the position C₀ in FIG. 8A, after which the cutter 301 israised and moved (in the Y direction) to its home position, and at thesame time the table 201 is moved in the X direction, whereby the cuttingblade 301a is placed at an angular portion C₁ at one side of theorientation flat portion shown in FIG. 8B. At the angular portion C₁,the cutting blade 301a is lowered so as to cut into the protecting film109, and then the cutting blade 301a follows the orientation flatportion of the wafer W and moves to an angular portion C₂ on the otherside of the orientation flat portion, thereby cutting the orientationflat portion (FIG. 8B). At this time, no damage will occur because thetip of the cutting blade 301a is inside the groove 201a.

Next, with the cutting blade 301a in the lowered position, the table 201is moved in the X direction (from the right to the left in FIG. 8B) onlyover the distance d_(X) shown in FIG. 8B, while at the same time thecutting blade 301a is moved in the Y direction (the direction frombottom to top in FIG. 8B) only over the distance d_(Y). Further, insynchronization with the above-described movement, the table 201 isrotated only by an angular amount θ in the counterclockwise directionshown in FIG. 8B about a center of rotation O. Now, if a straight lineis drawn from the center O of the table 201 perpendicular to theorientation flat portion, such straight line will intersect an extendedcurve of the circumferential portion of the wafer W at C₃, with thedistance between C₃ and C₂ in the X direction being d_(X) and thedistance between C₃ and C₂ in the Y direction being d_(Y).

As shown in FIG. 8C, by carrying out the operations described above, thepositional relationship between the cutting blade 301a and the wafer Wat the angular portion C₂ enables the cutting direction of the cuttingblade 301a (blade direction) to coincide with the tangential directionof the circumferential portion of the wafer W. At this point, if thetable 201 is rotated about the center O, the protecting film 109 is cutalong the circumference of the wafer W as shown in FIG. 8D. After suchcutting is carried out, the cutter 301 and the table 201 are movedtoward their home positions and are brought to a stop as soon as thehome position sensors 417, 419 detect the cutter 301 and the table 201at their respective home positions.

Now, even though the above example shown in FIG. 8 described the cuttingdirection of the cutting blade 301a (blade direction) as coinciding withthe tangential direction of the wafer W, it is also possible as shown inFIG. 9 to arrange the cutting direction of the cutting blade 301a so asto not coincide with the tangential direction t of the circumferentialportion, such as having the two directions being offset at or below aprescribed angle (e.g., α=0˜15°). As is further shown in FIG. 9, byarranging the cutting direction of the cutting blade 301a inside thetangential direction of the circumferential portion of the wafer W, itis possible to cut the protecting film 109 along the periphery of thewafer W even if the wafer W is slightly eccentric. Now, if the cuttingblade 301a moves too far inside, the cutting blade 301a is moveable tothe outside against the biasing force of the spring 325.

In carrying out the operation above, because the protecting film is cutwith the cutting direction matching the tangential direction of thecircumferential portion of the wafer, or with the cutting directionarranged at or below a prescribed angle with respect to the tangentialdirection of the circumferential portion of the wafer, it is possible tocut the protecting film in accordance with the size of the wafer even atthe angular portion of the orientation flat portion, and this makes itpossible to prevent a cut remnant (burr) from being created.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the protecting film is cut withthe cutting direction of the cutter fixed. In other words, the directionof the cutting blade does not change (e.g., in the example shown in FIG.8 the cutting blade 301a is normally held in a fixed direction facingdown). Consequently, the present invention makes it possible to carryout accurate cutting. In this connection, the prior art teaches a methodin which the direction of the cutting blade is changed to move thecutting blade along the tangential direction of the circumferentialportion of the wafer, but in this case it is easy for the cuttingposition of the tip of the cutting blade to slip and thereby create cutremnants (burrs). In contrast with this, in the above-describedembodiment of the present invention the cutting direction of the cutteris fixed, and because this makes it difficult for the tip of the cuttingblade to slip away from the cutting position, it becomes possible toaccurately match the advancing direction of the cutting blade with thecircumferential portion of the wafer. Moreover, such control can beeasily carried out.

Further, when the above-described cutting operation is being performed,pressing is carried out by the guide rollers 305 located in front andbehind the cutting blade 301a. As a result, no gaps are formed betweenthe protecting film 109 and the table 201, and this makes it possible tocarry out stable cutting. Further, because it is possible to tightlybond the protecting film 109 to the wafer W, cut remnants (burrs) arenot easily created, and therefore there are no cut remnants that mightbe wound up during the grinding process, and this also makes it possibleto prevent water from seeping in. As for the guide rollers 305, it isnot necessary to always place them both in front and behind the cutter,and instead it is possible to place such a guide roller only in front oronly behind the cutter.

After the protecting film 109 has been cut from the circumferentialportion of the wafer W, the remaining portion of the protecting film 109which was not bonded to the wafer W is peeled away, the wafer W isremoved, and a new wafer is brought in. These operations may be carriedout manually or fully automatically by using such devices as amanipulator and an automatic supply device. After the new wafer isbrought in, the same operations described above are repeated.

In the description given above, the press roller 107 held motionlesswhile the table 201 was moved to apply the protecting film 109. However,the present invention is not limited to this arrangement, and instead itis also possible to hold the table 201 motionless while moving the pressroller 107.

In the above-described apparatus, the movement of the cutting blade fromFIGS. 8B to 8C may be carried out while maintaining the positionalrelationship between the cutter and the protecting film, namely with thecutter following the angular portion of the orientation flat portion. Inthis way, the continuity of the cutting point of the protecting film ismaintained, and this makes it possible to reliably prevent the creationof cut remnants and burrs at the angular portion of the wafer. In oneexample method of carrying this out, the angular portion C₂ of the wafermay be drawn along tracks that follow the Z line of the orientation flatportion shown in FIG. 8B, with the movement speed of the table in the Xdirection and the rotation speed of the table being appropriately set,and the movement speed of the cutter 301 being set to match the movementspeed of the angular portion C₂ in the Y direction.

Further, even though the movement of the cutting blade from FIGS. 8B to8C was carried out with both the cutter and the table being moved in theabove-described embodiment, it is also possible to move just the cutteror just the table. In the description given for FIG. 8B, after theorientation flat portion was cut away, the cutter was moved from the C₂position in FIG. 8B to the C₃ position, and this movement may be carriedout by moving only the cutter in the XY directions or only the table inthe XY directions.

As described above, because the present invention makes it possible toadjust the back tension when the protecting film is being applied, itbecomes possible to apply the protecting film to a semiconductor waferwithout causing warpage or damage to the semiconductor wafer.

Further, the present invention makes it possible to cut the protectingfilm in accordance with the shape of the wafer even at the angularportion of the orientation flat portion, whereby it becomes possible toprevent the creation of cut remnants. Further, by carrying out pressingwith guide rollers arranged in front and/or behind the cutting blade,the protecting film can be firmly bonded to the wafer, and this alsoprevents the creation of cut remnants and the like.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of applying a protective film to asemiconductor wafer, in which the semiconductor wafer having anorientation flat portion and a circumferential portion is placed on atable and then a protecting film is applied to the semiconductor waferand is cut to match the shape of the semiconductor wafer, the stepscomprised of:a first step in which a cutter or the table is moved to cutthe protecting film along the orientation flat portion; a second step inwhich the table is rotated while the cutter or table is being moved,with the cutting direction of the cutter arranged at or below aprescribed angle with respect to the tangential direction of thecircumferential portion of the semiconductor wafer; and a third step inwhich the table is rotated to cut the protecting film along thecircumferential portion of the semiconductor wafer.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein at the second step, after the cutter has cut theorientation flat portion of the semiconductor wafer and reached anangular portion thereof, the positional relationship between the cutterand the protective film at that time is maintained, with the cuttingdirection of the cutter being arranged at or below the prescribed anglewith respect to the tangential direction of the circumferential portionof the semiconductor wafer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thecutting direction of the cutter is fixed.
 4. An apparatus for applying aprotecting film to a semiconductor wafer having an orientation flatportion and a circumferential portion, comprising:a table onto which thesemiconductor wafer is placed; means for applying the protecting film tothe semiconductor wafer; a cutter for cutting the protecting film;movement means for moving the table and the cutter; rotation means forrotating the table; and control means for controlling the movement meansand the rotation means, wherein the control means first controls thecutter or the table so as to cut the protecting film along theorientation flat portion, then moves the cutter or the table so as toarrange the cutting direction of the cutter at or below a prescribedangle with respect to the tangential direction of the circumferentialportion of the semiconductor wafer, and then rotates the table.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4, wherein the control means maintains the positionalrelationship between the cutter and the protecting film, and controlsthe cutter or the table so as to arrange the cutting direction of thecutter at or below the prescribed angle with respect to the tangentialdirection of the circumferential portion of the semiconductor wafer. 6.The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the cutting direction of the cutter isfixed.
 7. An apparatus for applying a protecting film to a semiconductorwafer having an orientation flat portion and a circumferential portion,comprising:a single cutter which is used to cut the protecting filmapplied on both the orientation flat portion and the circumferentialportion to match the shape of the semiconductor wafer after theprotecting film has been applied to the semiconductor wafer; and atleast one guide roller provided in front and/or behind the advancingdirection of the cutter to press the protecting film onto thesemiconductor wafer.
 8. An apparatus for applying a protecting film to asemiconductor wafer, comprising:a cutter which is used to cut theprotecting film to match the shape of the semiconductor wafer after theprotecting film has been applied to the semiconductor wafer; said cutterbeing inclined toward the semiconductor wafer when cutting; and at leastone guide roller provided in front and/or behind the advancing directionof the cutter to press the protecting film onto the semiconductor wafer.9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said cutter is biased toward theside of the semiconductor.